6.25.2015

La Conner was first settled in May 1867 thriving on logging and fishing. It was once the county seat of Skagit County. Today it is a quaint town of 900 that now flourishes on tourism.

Many of the historical building have been repurposed as restaurants and art galleries. There is thriving art colony here and a couple of galleries caught my eye. I was lusting after the stunning glass pieces in the Earthworks Gallery and the furniture and sculpted wood pieces in the Wood Merchant exhibited exceptional craftsmanship.

6.21.2015

I am visiting with my nephew Dylan Bainbridge Island. It has been a while since I have seen Dylan and Meghan and I am meeting their two boys, Luke and Brennan for the first time.
Talk about firsts, this is Luke's first try at riding a pedal bike. It was amazing, within an hour he had mastered staying up right and making turns.

Meghan and Brennan cheering Luke on.

Bainbridge Island is a beautiful place to live. They have great parks to enjoy.

Higher dad

Dylan and I had a scenic paddle not far from his house. All the streets that end at the water on the island allow public access. What a great idea.

6.19.2015

Ocean City, WA is home to some spectacular wood carvings at
Ocean City Market Place. Can’t miss it, right at the jog in hwy 109. (47.071379, -124.165992)

Work in progress

Joe is
holding one of his elegant creations. He comes from a family of wood carvers. His
father, aunts, and uncles are all artists and display their creations here.

South Beach

No, I have not been magically transported back to Florida, but South Beach Campground, OR. (47.568103, -124.361592)

Following
my 2 by 2 axiom, less than 200 miles and off the road by 2, paid off big today.
I arrived at South Beach C.G. by 12:30 and scored one of the coveted sites on
the low bluff over looking the Pacific. By 3 all the ocean side sites were snapped
up. Great view for only $5 night with my old fart pass.

Hundreds
of mostly 3 to 4 inch crabs litterer the beach. Was this the result of
predators, or something else? An even more interesting question is why are they
all males?

Catching Surf Perch, yummy

Great walking beach.
My new pedometer app totaled 14,578 steps.

Three
gastropods hunker down, their operculums sucked in tight, waiting for high tide
and salvation. Only 7.5 hours to go.

6.13.2015

Serenity is showing her age. She has some delmaination going on, and it
is not cost effective to have her re-skinned. When the sun hits her aluminum
skin it bulges out do to the expanding hot air trapped beneath. My low
tech/cheap solution was to use aluminum screw posts to pull the wall
together.

Posts come in 1/4 inch increments. You need one

a little shorter than
your wall is thick.

Sanded and painted the heads

before installation.

Laying
out the post's placement.

I first drilled with a smaller drill, pop rivet diameter, in case I hit
the 2 inch square frame. I did not, so I enlarged them to the diameter of the
posts.

My
brother calked and held the post in while I screwed in the male end from the
inside.

Welcome

I am retired from an eclectic career, construction worker, science teacher and corporate photographer living full time in my 2002 Trek named Serenity. She is named after the space ship in the Firefly TV series.
I am boondocking my way down the back roads of North America enjoying the good life and sampling the local cuisine. My wanderlust comes from my mother’s love of travel and moving often when I was younger. My Dad built dams and we moved every few years. I have lived in CA, WA, OR, WV, & AZ. Construction is in my blood and today I enjoy participating in Habitat for Humanity builds. I also like to travel, fishing, hiking, geocaching, kayaking, cooking, museums and movies. I read Mysteries/adventure books and listen to smooth jazz & 60’s rock and roll